Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

" W e didn't kill her, did we?" Nathan asked, shifting nervously as he glanced back down at Joe.

Eric shifted her in his arms, careful to keep her arms pinned against her sides as he raised one hand to check her carotid artery. "Strong and steady. She's just out," he said, gently pulling away from her so that he could lay her down on the bed. As he got to his feet, Nathan pulled the covers up and tucked her in.

"Thanks for getting the pills," Eric said, rubbing his sore shoulder.

She'd put up a hell of a fight. It wasn't because the pills were a waste of time and wouldn't work like she'd claimed the entire time they'd been forced to take matters into their own hands. No, the reason that she came really fucking close to kneeing him in the balls was very simple. She thought she was going to work tomorrow.

It wasn't fucking happening.

She had fifteen stitches in her head, for fuck sake, and needed to rest, but she refused to listen to reason. The little pain in the ass actually argued that a head injury wouldn't interfere with her doing her job or her ability to lift a patient. Joe was too damn stubborn and this little incident just showed him that she needed to get the hell out of this field while she still could. She was a young, an incredibly beautiful woman and it was just so fucking wrong that this job was her life.

He knew that she would fight him every inch of the way, but once he had her off the rig for good, she'd thank him. She needed to start living her life and he knew that she wouldn't allow herself to do that as long as she still had this job. Once he found her something else to do, he knew it would only be a matter of time before she realized that it was the best thing for her.

"Mom's going to kill us," Nathan pointed out.

It pretty much went without saying that their mother would throttle them when she found out that they'd kept this from her. The woman truly believed that they were incapable of taking care of themselves when they were sick. It didn't matter that two of them were EMTs with more medical experience than her, she was their mother and only she could take care of them.

Eric looked over at his brother and winced as he took in the tailored suit that was now a mass of wrinkles thanks to the ten-minute wrestling match Joe insisted on before they could get her to take the damn pills. In the end, they'd been forced to shove the pills down her throat before clamping a hand over her mouth to stop her from spitting them out again and pinching her nose shut until she swallowed them.

"You might want to throw your suit in the dryer before you go back to your date," Eric pointed out, fighting back a yawn. Today had been a really fucking long day.

Nathan shrugged out of his coat and tossed it on the chair in the corner. "It's already late and I'd rather not have to come back here in four hours to do this all over again when she wakes up."

Eric didn't think ten o'clock was too late to finish his date, but if Nathan was willing to stay and help with the next wrestling match, then he wasn't going to be stupid enough to point it out. He was, however, curious.

"Is everything okay?" Eric asked as he shoved his pants off and tossed them aside before pulling off his socks while Nathan pulled off his shirt.

"With what?" Nathan asked as he toed off his shoes.

"With Caitlyn," Eric said, wondering if his brother was already starting to pull away from this one. His brother had a nasty habit of dumping women that, in Eric's opinion, were damn near perfect for his brother.

"Nothing's wrong. She's great," Nathan said, shrugging it off.

So were all the other women that had come and gone out of his brother's life over the years, but tonight wasn't the night to bring that up. Tonight, he was exhausted.

"I'm gonna grab a quick shower," Eric said, grabbing a pair of boxer briefs from Joe's bureau. He ignored Nathan's amused expression and went to the bathroom and took a hot shower. It helped relax his muscles, but it did nothing to calm his fucking nerves.

The only thing that helped was seeing Joe safely curled up in bed fast asleep, Eric thought as he walked back into her bedroom a few minutes later. He wasn't exactly surprised to find Nathan lying on top of Joe's old sleeping bag on the floor. Although none of them had a problem sleeping in the same bed since it had been a necessity on more than one family vacation when they were kids, none of those experiences had ended well for Nathan.

Odd things just seemed to happen to Nathan when the three of them shared a bed. Most of the time, he ended up falling off the bed, but on more than one occasion, he'd ended up with a few minor injuries like a bump on the head, a knee to the groin, a few broken fingers, and a broken nose. They were accidents no matter what Nathan claimed, but they were still unsettling.

Even that trip last October when they went up to Maine for the weekend and were forced to share a tent hadn't ended well for Nathan. How the poor bastard ended up being shoved out of the tent and into the rain, Eric still had no fucking idea. Not that he'd cared at the time since he'd been happily snuggled up with Joe in a warm tent.

Stepping over Nathan, Eric carefully crawled into bed with Joe and pulled her into his arms. She immediately relaxed back into his arms and let out a little sigh.

"How long do you think they'll keep her on light duty?" Nathan whispered.

Eric sighed heavily. "Normally, they'd probably keep her on light duty for a week, but knowing how stubborn she is, she'll probably manage to get back to work in a few days."

"I still can't believe he attacked a cop and went for his gun. You're both lucky that he didn't get that gun free," Nathan pointed out as Eric's arms tightened around Joe. They had been really fucking lucky, but it had been close, very close. When he spoke to Nathan earlier on the phone, he'd left off the fact that the patient had managed to switch the safety off just seconds before Joe's little stunt.

Joe's groan had him loosening his hold and pressing a kiss to the top of her head. He had to figure out a way to get Joe off the truck before something happened.

"Nathan?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you still looking for a secretary?" Eric asked, glad that it was too dark for his brother to see the calculating expression on his face.

Nathan sighed heavily. "Yeah, business is really taking off and I could use a hand in the office to free up some of my time. Why? Do you know someone?"

Eric couldn't help but smile. This was going to be too fucking easy. He knew how much Nathan's tech company meant to him. He'd built it from the ground up when he was barely sixteen years old. It was his baby, his pride and joy, and he knew that he was nervous about letting a stranger near it.

This was perfect.

Joe needed a new job and Nathan needed someone he trusted. He mentally congratulated himself on his fast work. This was going to be easier than he thought.

"Joe," Eric simply said.

"Is she awake?" Nathan asked, sounding confused.

Eric heard the telltale sound of the sleeping bag zipper being pulled down and wasn't surprised to find Nathan standing next to the bed a moment later, peering down at Joe nervously. The man clearly wanted to make sure Joe was okay and what better way to do that than to give her a job?

This was going to be too fucking easy.

"She's fine."

"Oh."

"I meant that you should hire Joe."

There was a heavy pause before Nathan snorted his reply. "No fucking way. It's not happening."

"What the hell do you mean ‘no way'?" Eric demanded, shifting Joe out of his arms so that he could sit up and properly glare up at his brother.

Nathan simply turned his back on him and returned to the safety of his sleeping bag. "Just what I said. There's no way in hell that I'm hiring Joe. Besides, she has a job already. A good job, I might add."

"Why the hell wouldn't you hire Joe?" Eric demanded, unable to stop himself from feeling insulted on her behalf. "She's a good worker, never late, and she works her ass off."

"She's also stubborn, pushy, and would laugh her ass off the first time I asked her to do something," Nathan pointed out.

Eric opened his mouth to argue but then closed it, realizing that he was right. Nathan would probably fire Joe's ass within the first hour. Joe was a great EMT and never argued or copped an attitude with one of their supervisors, but she'd have a hard time taking orders from a pushover like Nathan.

"Besides," Nathan continued, "it's not like she'll be on light duty forever and I need someone full-time."

This is where it was going to get a little tricky. Thankfully, Joe was still lightly snoring, so he didn't have to worry about her overhearing this conversation and kicking his ass.

Yet .

"After tonight, I was thinking that it might be better if Joe found something else to do."

"You decided?" came the hesitant reply.

"Yes, but it's not only about tonight. This field is too dangerous," Eric said, ignoring Nathan's snort of disbelief, "she needs a decent job, something that won't interfere with her having a life."

"She seems to like her life just fine."

"She deserves better."

After a moment, Nathan sighed warily. "I don't think Joe would be happy doing anything else, but after seeing what that bastard did to her tonight, I have to admit that I wouldn't mind seeing her in a safer job."

"Then, you'll help me convince her to quit?"

He needed his brother on board with his plan. Tag-teaming Joe might be his only hope. Of course, if he got their mother on board...

"Yeah, I'll help," Nathan said, not really sounding happy about it. "But when she finds out, and we both know that she will, don't be surprised when I sell your ass down the river."

"Duly noted," Eric happily said as he lay back down and pulled Joe back into his arms. As long as she was off the ambulance and safe, he'd happily let her kick his ass.

Joe continued glaring at the empty spot in her closet where her uniforms should be. She had absolutely no doubt who took them along with her keys and why.

After throwing one last glare at her closet, Joe stormed over to her nightstand, ignored the bottle of pain medication, and snatched up her cell phone and dialed the number of the first bastard that she was going to kill.

"You take your pills?" Eric asked as soon as he answered.

"You. Bastard," Joe bit out.

"Did you take your pills?" he asked again, sounding bored.

"I don't know who you think you are, but you have ten minutes to get your ass back here with my uniforms or so help me god, I will-"

"I'm sorry, but I can't have this conversation with you until you take your pills," Eric said, cutting her off.

"I will hurt-"

"Take your pills."

"No," Joe snapped, even though her head was killing her.

"If you want to talk, then you'll take them."

Glaring at absolutely nothing, Joe did her best to rein in her temper. After a minute, she said, "Fine. I took them. Are you happy?"

Eric sighed heavily. "I would be if you actually took them."

"Fine!" Joe snapped, grabbing the small bottle of pills, knowing that she wouldn't get anywhere with the annoying bastard until she took them. She quickly popped two pills in her mouth and swallowed them with the water someone left by her bed. "Are you happy now?"

"Extremely," Eric said, sounding smug.

The bastard.

"Now, bring my car keys and uniforms back," Joe bit out between clenched teeth.

" Sorry, no can do. You're not supposed to drive while you have those pills in your system. So, I guess you'll just have to stay home and rest like a good little girl."

"Eric-" she started to say, only to be cut off.

"Besides, I can't really talk right now. I'm kind of busy here with work and all, but before I forget, I was supposed to tell you that Mom is hurt that you wouldn't let us call her last night."

"Wh-What?" Joe managed to choke out. "Who the hell told Mom?" she demanded, wondering which one of them had broken their pact to keep Alice in the dark about injuries, illness, and hangovers. It had to be Nathan, Joe thought, inwardly cursing. Eric knew better. Besides, he would never screw her over like this. He-

"I did, of course. You know it's really not nice to keep Mom in the dark about these kinds of things. Now, if you don't mind, I really do have to get back to work," Eric said cheerfully.

"Please tell me you're kidding," Joe said hollowly as she started to panic.

"Not even a little bit."

Just as a few choice words popped into her head, she heard her front door open and swallowed hard. "Eric, please tell me that's you coming into the house right now."

"Sweetheart?" Alice said, ruining all Joe's hopes that Eric had lied. "I made Jell-O!"

"I hate you," Joe mumbled into the phone before hanging up, but not before she heard the little bastard laugh.